RE: Re: My Kid Is a Ten-Year-Old Curmudgeon

If you've followed us of late, you know that everyone's buzzing about our newest guest critic, John Henry Lomax, son of music editor John Nova Lomax.

Some readers, such as Reg Burns, are comparing him to Andy Rooney : "When that two minute slot at the end of 60 Minutes is vacated, I think we have a replacement." Others like Jen, suggest that we "get that kid an agent." One local band even invited him out to review their show. (No word if John Jr. made it out to Fitzgerald's on Friday night.)

But John Henry's rants haven't gone completely unchecked. At first, we secretly worried if his musings on "organic chocolate" would draw fire from The Dagoba Organic Chocolate Company. (Or, worse, some company PR flak would send us a case of the stuff.) So who was it that called young JHL out? A teacher. Cue kids in the classroom: "Ooooooooh, buss-ted!"

On Friday, JH took on "bossy" teachers:

Argument 4: Here is the problem with today's teachers. Have you ever noticed how bossy today's teachers are? They're always saying "this homework is a disgrace!" or "you take no pride in your work." Who are they to tell us what's bad and what's not, who are they to judge our work and embarrass us in front of the whole class?! I think students should be treated with a little more respect, don't you? I mean if it wasn't for our tax dollars they wouldn't be able to renovate the school and they wouldn't be able to pay the teachers and still they treat you like crap. So as you can see an entire school district revolves around students, a school that has no students has no profit. So why do teachers treat students like crap? Like I said students should have more respect! So there you have it, today's problem with teachers. They're too damn mean! (Sorry to those teachers that are actually nice!)

And to that, Squarepants, a teacher, responds:

Dear Little man,
I happen to be a teacher. I've got quite a few mean kids ... they sometimes send em' to me when they've been too mean. My job is to overwhelm them with understanding and love. It's hard to do that, as a teacher, when the kids can be so mean ("I hate you, miss!") but I try to understand them anyway. Maybe your teachers are having a hard time in life, like so many of my kids do. You can help by smiling and telling them you're glad that they are there. It may be hard, but you'll be a bigger man because of it. Teachers are people too.

Well hey, John Henry, that could've been a lot worse. At least she didn't say anything about detention. They say you've made it when people start critiquing your critiques (your Dad can tell you all about that). Sure seems you've made it, kid. — Steven Devadanam